


Escape from the World-Eater

by kosciuszkovevo



Series: Voice of the Sky [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Skyrim
Genre: Hadvar is too good, Iseult is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 13:39:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kosciuszkovevo/pseuds/kosciuszkovevo
Summary: Iseult and Hadvar flee from the dragon, but they aren't free yet.





	Escape from the World-Eater

     In the first few moments Iseult couldn’t hear, she couldn’t move. The dragon’s roar had knocked her from herself, and thus she couldn’t register what had become of the world around her. Everything had become a blur- the other captives moved about as if caught in a dream, and she could only look up in awe at what had saved her. The dragon swooped low, and passed Iseult as it headed towards a crowd of Imperial soldiers.

    “Hey! You! Prisoner! Come on with me, I know a way out of here!” Ralof had appeared, and his sudden arrival had woken up Iseult from shellshock. Barely able to speak, she mustered up a simple nod and darted after Ralof, who had already departed to one of the watchtowers. She crashed into the tower’s entrance, and finally registered what was happening around her. Iseult certainly hadn’t anticipated her arrival in Skyrim to end like this.

    “Do you… do you have any idea what the hell that was?” Iseult demanded, her vision still blurry.

     “I think it was a dragon, but those were only in the legends-”

     “Legends don’t burn down villages, Ralof. We need to get moving!” Ulfric barked, and Iseult didn’t feel the need to object. She wasn’t exactly in the right place to begin a conversation.

      Both her and Ralof made moves to go upstairs, but were cut short by the foul dragon blasting its way through the tower’s once sturdy walls. She could feel the scorching heat of the dragon’s fire as she pulled Ralof away from its lethal flame. She hurried up to the edge of the hole and peered down. There was another hole- through the roof of the inn below her, and if she could just time it right, she could-

  
     “Get going! Jump through the hole, I’ll see you outside!” Ralof shouted to her.

  
     “And you’re just going to stand there, biding your time?” Iseult yelled back. “Come on with me!”

  
     Ralof simply shook his head and turned downward into the tower. _Dumb bastard_ , Iseult thought as she prepared to jump. He’s the one who’s going to die down there.  
She was successful in her leap, feeling herself weightless in the air for moments, before landing rather clumsily onto the first floor. Normally she’d be much better at this, but with her current predicaments that could not be the case.

  
     Moments later, as she ran along the burning village her lungs filled with smoke, and through her tears she could see fire raining down on Helgen. There was no way a dragon could simply do that, but if so there was magic involved. She didn’t care anymore, shoving and pushing her way through a crowd of soldiers who were soon engulfed by dragonfire. Her goal was to leave, and she wasn’t about to act all valiant and save others too. She had herself to worry about, and as she swung open the door to the Helgen keep, she was content that way.

     The door shut firmly behind her, and Iseult sunk low as she recollected herself. Around her were beds, chests, and equipment. Relief washed over her as she moved towards a dagger to cut herself free. _Lucky m_ e, she thought proudly. Something in the corner of her eye caught her off guard. It was Hadvar, the Imperial guard who allowed her sentence. _I take that back_ , Iseult frowned, her heart sinking. _Maybe he could get her bindings off._

    “Look, I know we got off the wrong foot,” Iseult began, slowly walking towards him with her hands out in front of her. “But could you do a favor for me?” She gestured to her bound hands.

    “Sure, I doubt you could seriously harm me anyways. What’s important is that we get out of here,” Hadvar replied, and Iseult thought she detected a bit of smugness in his voice. She grimaced as he released her from her bindings, looking downward at the burns and chafe marks on her wrist. Both of them were covered in soot, and Hadvar motioned behind her-

     “Over there, see those chests? I’m sure you’ll be able to find something worth using. And don’t worry about the Imperial Legion, they’re too concerned about getting out of here to worry about a prisoner going loose.” Hadvar directed her towards a weapon rack and a chest, located in the far back of the room.

     As Iseult rummaged through the chest, she responded bitterly, “And if we get out of here alive, you’re going to have to not refer to me as a prisoner. It’s not my problem you can’t keep your records straight.”

     Hadvar seemed a bit taken aback by her curt remark, but looked away as she pulled on a Legionnaire’s cuirass and armed herself with a bow and a dagger, strapping her quiver to her back.

    “In truth,” Hadvar began as Iseult turned towards him, “I don’t blame you for being this way, but let’s just try to get out of here before we start worrying about laws and all that, yes?”

     Iseult nodded and began to head down the hallway with him. As they headed deeper and deeper into the keep, they encountered several Stormcloaks, who they defeated quickly. Hadvar didn’t seem to be in bad shape, but who was Iseult, a pampered Imperial City dweller, to criticize? Descending into a torture room, she peered around the corner.

    Several dead Stormcloaks were strewn about, and some Imperial soldiers were poking around looking for supplies. Hadvar cheerfully strode into the chamber, and joined the soldiers in a brief but serious chatter, conversing with the others on how to get out. He gestured towards her a couple times, but Iseult simply listened in as she picked the lock of a cage. Some gold lay on the floor of the iron cage, and she scooped up what little there was. _If I do manage to survive this mess_ , she reasoned, _I’ll need what gold I can get._

    “You like pickin’ locks, eh? Hope you’re no thief,” one of the soldiers said musingly, and clapped her on the back. “It doesn’t matter much now, we’ll all die anyway!”

     The soldier’s eerily fatalistic remark had stirred her, and Iseult replied coldly, “If you keep thinking that way we will.”

     “She’s got a point- escaping should be our first priority,” Hadvar reasoned, directing towards the hallway leading deeper into the fortress.

     “And what in the Eight makes you think there’s some way out down there?”

      As the soldiers began to bicker, Iseult quietly padded over to a side table that had a large, black, leather bound book on it. On the cover was a silver dragon, and she clutched the amulet that still hung around her neck. It was the same symbol- angular wings, diamond in shape, and that of the Empire. The Septim Empire.

     She stuffed it discreetly in her knapsack that she had picked up, and made her way towards the hall. As the soldiers began to collect their things, she quietly made her way forward, and found herself with Hadvar trailing alongside her. Their wary entourage had cleared its way through the keep, killing any dissident Stormcloaks that lingered inside. They encountered spiders at one point, and Iseult was sickened by the impressively large creatures. Hadvar had commented that they had too many eyes as he plunged his sword into one, and Iseult couldn’t help but agree.

     However, as Iseult was about to move onward, the soldiers held back, declaring that they needed to wait a while. I’m not waiting for them, Iseult thought, and left with Hadvar. Escape was on their minds, and as they descended into a cave system a gnawing sense of dread wouldn’t leave Iseult. _What if they didn’t make it out alive, and what if she was condemned to wait out her days in the bowels of a cave?_ The prospect of her fate seemed unpleasant, and as selfish as it sounded, she didn’t care much about anyone else.

  
     The walls of the cave were chillingly slick with condensation, and Iseult could see her breath cloud in front of her as the duo made their way through, constantly searching for a way out. Hadvar shifted uncomfortably as the cave system opened into a deep cavern, and within the gloom, the two Imperials could see the dark outline of a bear. Luckily, it was still slumbering as Iseult crept forward, but Hadvar grasped her shoulder firmly.

     “I don’t know about you, but.. I’m not exactly fit to fight that thing. You could probably take it by surprise, but..”

     “I’m with you on this one. Let’s just sneak by it,” she whispered back to him, and the two began to quietly make their way past the slumbering beast.

     It was fairly simple- Iseult was well accustomed to being silent and the ways of stealth, but it soon became apparent Hadvar was not. Her breath hitched in her throat as she heard Hadvar step on a small branch, its snap echoing through the cavern. Both froze, and locked their eyes on the she-bear. It shifted in its sleep, but fortunately rested its head on the floor, and was sound asleep. Sighing with relief, she crept along the pathway until she detected a sliver of light shining through a crevice in the cave wall. _At last!_  she thought optimistically, and hurried up to the light, the sleeping beast long forgotten.

     It was just large enough for a person to fit through, and as she turned she saw a smile break out on Hadvar’s face. As she clambered outside into the fresh morning breeze, the two of them breathed in Skyrim’s crisp air deeply.

    But their little celebration of freedom was cut short by a harrowingly familiar roar overhead. Hadvar looked up as Iseult crouched low, and the large black wings of the dragon circled overhead, looking for more human prey.  
     Iseult placed a finger to her lips as she looked up, terrified that the cover of the boulders wouldn’t be enough. As minutes passed they felt like hours, and finally the threat was gone. She stretched her legs and looked on with a pleasant silence.

     The mountains loomed ahead, and the blue sky stretched on endlessly. They were free.


End file.
